Slot holders go window shopping as Stewart’s stars hit Menangle

Saturday night at Menangle is not the TAB Eureka, but for Emma Stewart it may be the next best thing. With six of the race’s 10 slots still open, the champion harness racing trainer is bringing six of her young stars to Club Menangle in what looks very much like a shop window for the slot holders who have yet to make up their minds.

Stewart and co-trainer Clayton Tonkin have won two of the three Eurekas run so far, with Encipher in 2023 and Bay Of Biscay last year. They already have one runner in this year’s race, the Victoria Oaks winner Bettor Beach. The question now is how many more of their team can join her.

“We’re taking a big team up, I’ll have six up there,” Emma Stewart said.

In our view, the most likely to win a ticket is The Last Trip (Poster Boy – Fususi). He runs in race 6 at 9.09pm from barrier five with Mark Pitt driving, fresh from a dominant South Australian Pacing Cup win in which he led throughout and beat Forty Love by just over 15 metres. He sat second in TAB’s pre-nomination Eureka market last week, and it is hard to see a horse with that profile left on the sidelines.

The Art Of Success may be the next cab off the rank. The Art Major mare is unbeaten in her past five starts, including the Group 2 Vicbred 4YO Mares Final at Melton, and her owner-breeder Ray Sellwood has been clear about wanting a Eureka start. She runs in the Listed Ladyship Stakes for mares (race 5, 8.32pm) from barrier seven, and a mare has already won the Eureka for this stable.

That same race could make life harder for one of her stablemates. Let Her Roll, another of Stewart’s star mares, starts from barrier eight with Bailey McDonough in the sulky. A head-to-head between two stable companions is exactly the kind of evidence slot holders may want to see.

Cigano is the dark horse of the group. Prominent in TAB’s Eureka market without The Last Trip’s profile, he tackles race 2 at 6.55pm from barrier 10. A strong showing from the outside could firm his claims.

The other two will need something special. I Am The Storm meets the Eureka favourite Loucasso over the race distance of 2300 metres in race 1 at 6.24pm, starting from barrier 10. Beating or even running close to Loucasso would be a statement. Three-year-old Most Exciting closes the night in race 8 from barrier six, and would get the Eureka’s preferential barrier draw if chosen.

It is unlikely that all six will make the race. Four slots are already filled, with Loucasso running for the slot holder (Rampant Standardbreds), Double Lou for the slot holder (The Don), Soho Charmer for the slot holder (Soho Standardbreds) and Bettor Beach. The remaining six slot holders also have plenty of options from other stables.

On the evidence available, The Last Trip and The Art Of Success look the most likely to join Bettor Beach, with Cigano not far away. The others have a chance to change minds on Saturday night.

Slot holders can name their runners up to seven days before the $1.5 million race at Menangle on November 21, which means Saturday may be the last big audition. For a stable that has made the Eureka its own, it is a chance to show the whole squad under the Menangle lights.

 

Disclosure: Harnesslink is a 2026 TAB Eureka slot holder, and Bettor Beach will run in the Harnesslink slot.

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From Harnesslink Media